v. The FEET of IRON
and CLAY (vv. 33b, 41-43): The Final Expression of the Roman power; Antichrist.
v.
33b: “…its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.’’
v.
41-43: “41In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay
and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the
toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42As
the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the
kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43And in that
you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in
the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not
combine with pottery.”
a. The Progressive
Principle refuted: devolution, as
opposed to evolution…
Rather than progressively evolving upwards
unto a utopian golden age, the apostate Kingdom of Man progressively devolves
downward, ultimately resting upon unstable feet of clay…
b. The Fourth Kingdom
involves an expansive parenthetical time frame.
o The final phase is
not described as a distinct “fifth” kingdom.
o Such a “ten toes”
phase has not yet appeared in world history.
o An period of time
passes or extends between v. 33 a & b and vv. 40 & 41. The vision of
vv. 37-40 is within the realm of history
(from our present perspective); v. 41-45 are future prophecy.
c. Roman revival
& One World Government: Too incredible?
Note from Nebuchadnezzar’s time-perspective,
ALL of the prophesized events must have seemed incredible!
o Babylon’s future
subjection by a humble Iranian war-chief?
o The rise of barbaric
Macedonia unto cultural & international domination?
o A little Italian
village along the Tiber rises to conquer the western world?
Incredible or not, it WILL happen!
Rev.
13:7-9: It was also given to him to make war
with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people
and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship
him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world
in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let
him hear.
The
final dark phase of Roman power awaits… the last Emperor, Antichrist!
d. Iron and clay…
Iron points to elements
of destructive power, strength, ruthlessness, and stability.
Clay points to aspects of
instability, inherent weakness and fragility, internal lack of cohesion…
Clay may speak of modern
day “people movements” of broader and debased popular mass sovereignty (e.g.,
democracy, socialism, etc.).
o Mankind (Heb., adamah; lit. “ground” or “earth”) is
made of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7).
o The Antichrist Beast
of Rev. 13:1 arises out of the chaotic turbulence of the sea—perhaps a reference to the agitated realm of unregenerate
humanity.
e. The Ten Toes:
their identity.
Compare with the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7,
and with the Scarlet Beast of Rev. 17.
Dan. 7:7-8, 19-20, 23-25:
"7After
this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful
and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured
and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different
from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8While
I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up
among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before
it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth
uttering great boasts.”
19"Then
I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different
from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws
of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its
feet, 20and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its
head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell,
namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which
was larger in appearance than its associates.”
23"Thus
he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be
different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread
it down and crush it. 24As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom
ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be
different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. 25He
will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest
One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will
be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.’”
Rev. 17:3, 12-13:
3And
he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting
on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten
horns.
12"The
ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a
kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13These
have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”
The Ten Toes are thus a confederacy of ten kings, or power structures, that
will flourish in the end-times (Dan. 2:44) in association with the Antichrist
during the 70th Week of Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27)—representing the Roman
Empire in its revived form and the final expression of Gentile world power.
f. The iron-and-mud/ten
toes form of latter day Roman power summarized.
i.
It
will involve a 10-element federation (Dan. 7:24).
ii.
It
will combine strong & weak, stable & unstable elements (Dan. 2:42).
iii.
It
will involve internal difficulties—especially prior to the ultimate rise of
Antichrist (2:43, 7:24-25).
iv.
It
will flourish just prior to our Lord’s glorious Second Advent (2:45).
v.
It
will be suddenly and dramatically destroyed by Him; its passing will mark the
end of the Times of the Gentiles; there will be no successor kingdoms!
Dan.
2:44: "In the days of those kings the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that
kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to
all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”
